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(No Model.)

, .FLAUTT.

LL SUPPORT. No. 434,260. Patented Aug. 12, 1890;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB R. FLAUTT, OF LANARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO MA- THIAS TALLMAN AND HENRY F. TALLMAN, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

THlLL-SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,260, dated August 12, 1890.

Application filed April 7, 1890.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB R. FLAUTT, a resident of Lanark,in the county of Carroll and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill-Supports; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use To the same.

My invention relates to improvements in thill-supporting devices, and is fullydescribed and explained in this specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a thill-support embodying'my invention. Fig. 2. is a top plan of same; and Fig. 3 is a detail view illustrating the notched spring which supports the thill.

In the views, A is an axle of ordinary form.

Bis a thill; O, a clip encircling the axle and supporting the usual integrally-formed ears 0; and B is a thill-iron pivoted to the ears 0 by a bolt 0 in the usual manner and fast ened to the thill, which it supports and connects with the clip and axle. A band or bar of steel D-is substituted for the usual clipguard beneath the axle and is provided atits rear end with an integrally-formed spring-D,

0 extending upward and forward, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the position of the spring being such 5 that its upperor front end is at one side of the plane of motion of the thill and preferably on the inner side thereof.

5 Near the front end of the spring D is a notch (Z, formed in the outer edge thereof, (or in the edge next to the plane of motion of the thill,) the rear edge (1' of this notch being square, or nearly 'so, and the front edge 6 be- 0 ing oblique, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This notch engages a lug E, fastened to the inner face. of the thill by means of the band 6 and suitable bolt or in any other desired manner. The front edge of the lug is oblique or beveled, as shown, and the rear edge square or abrupt, the lug being of such cross-section as 'to slip readily into the notch when the thill is raised and to be withdrawn therefrom when the thill is pressed forward inthe direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 2. The admission of the lug to the notch or its escape therefrom presses the spring away from the thill, and this pressure is resisted by the force of the spring itself, the locking of the thill being in fact accomplished by and dependent upon the lateral pressure of the spring on the thill.

The device thus described is simple and practical, and itnot only holds the thill up and secures it against accidental displacement when raised, but permits it to be drawn forward and downward at the will of the operator. It may evidently be used with thills of any construction and with tongues of light vehicles. When found desirable, two supports may be used, so placed as to engage the opposite thills of a buggy or the opposite faces of a tongue or pole, the two supports being then preferably so constructed as to be right and left hand, respectively. I

The front end of the barD may be extended forward, if desired, and bent to form a spring anti-rattler D, and this is especially desirable where two supports are used, each of the supports being provided with an anti-rattler opcrating on the corresponding thill.

Having now described and explained my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, with the axle, thill, and thill-iron, of the laterally-pressing spring D, engaging the'thill, the bar D, integral with the spring attached to the axle, and the curved spring D, integral with the bar D and pressing against the thill-iron to form an antirattler, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JACOB R. FLAUTT. Witnesses:

R. H. WILES, J. A. GRAIN. 

